WO2018066777A2 - Wireless communication device and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication device and a control method therefor and, particularly, to a wireless communication device capable of communicating in different frequency bands, and a control method therefor. A method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure corresponds to a method for controlling a wireless communication device having a wireless communication unit in accordance with each of a plurality of wireless communication standards. The method may comprise the steps of: receiving a first control signal from a first network by a first communication processor which communicates in a first wireless standard mode; controlling, by the first communication processor, power of a second communication processor of a second wireless standard mode to be turned on when the first control signal includes system control information of the second wireless standard mode; transferring, by the first communication processor, control information to be used in a system of the second wireless standard mode to the second communication processor through a data communication interface when data received from a system of the first wireless standard mode includes the control information to be used in the system of the second wireless standard mode; and accessing and communicating with the system of the second wireless standard mode by the second communication processor. The present research has been conducted with the support of the "Cross-Departmental Giga KOREA Project" of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

Description

Wireless communication device and control method thereof

The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication device and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a wireless communication device and a control method thereof capable of communicating in different frequency bands.

This study was supported by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning 'Giga KOREA Project'.

A representative technology in the wireless communication field is a cellular communication method. Cellular communication has evolved from the first generation to the fourth generation of cellular communication. When the cellular network is upgraded from generation to generation, the cellular modem that is responsible for each generation has been mainly installed in the terminal as a separate chip, and in the commercialization process, the one-chip that the modem for each generation is put together in one chip I've been through the process. In addition, the generation of modems by one-chip, as well as the one-chip (modem chip) and the application processor (AP) chip as a single chip together to encompass the generation AP chips have been combined with modem chips and have evolved into the form of MoDAP (Modem & Application Processor).

In the evolution to the fourth generation of cellular systems, each generation of modem chips is mounted in one wireless communication device through a one-chip process in which one chip is made of one chip. For example, when evolving from 2nd generation cellular system to 3rd generation cellular system, 2nd generation modem chip and 3rd generation modem chip are one-chip. In addition, when evolving into the 4th generation cellular system, the 3rd generation modem chip and the 4th generation modem chip are one-chip and mounted in a wireless communication device.

Meanwhile, it is expected that the next generation cellular method after the fourth generation, that is, the fifth generation (5G), will use mmWave different from the previous wireless communication band. Therefore, in case of 5G modem chip, the characteristics of the previous generation modem chip and radio frequency (RF) are so different that one chip together with the existing 4th generation (4G) or 3rd generation (3G) modem chip There is a problem that it is difficult to make one-chip.

In addition, 5G modems are not defined in terms of the structure of hardware and software for interworking with existing generation modems, that is, 4G modems, in a situation where one-chip is difficult to be developed.

In order to solve these problems, the present disclosure provides an interworking method and a control apparatus between modem chips having different hardware configurations.

In addition, the present disclosure provides an interworking method and a control apparatus between modem chips and application processors having different hardware configurations.

Method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for controlling a wireless communication device having a respective wireless communication unit in accordance with a plurality of wireless communication standards, the first communication processor to communicate in a first wireless standard manner the first network Receiving a first control signal from the apparatus; Controlling, by the first communication processor, to power on the second communication standard-based second communication processor when the first control signal includes system control information according to the second wireless standard; If the first communication processor includes control information for use in the second wireless standard system in the data received from the first wireless standard system, the control information to be used in the second wireless standard system; Transferring to a second communication processor via a data communication interface; And the second communication processor communicating with the second wireless standard system.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a baseband signal to be transmitted according to a first wireless standard is converted to a signal of a first frequency band and transmitted to a first antenna, and a first frequency received from the first antenna. A first wireless unit converting a signal of a band into a signal of a base band and outputting the signal; The baseband signal to be transmitted according to the second wireless standard is converted into a signal of the second frequency band and transmitted to the second antenna, and the signal of the second frequency band received from the second antenna is converted into a baseband signal. A second wireless unit for outputting; A first communication processor which modulates and encodes data to be transmitted to the first wireless unit, generates a baseband signal to be transmitted, and demodulates and decodes the baseband signal received from the first wireless unit; A second communication processor which modulates and encodes data to be transmitted to the second wireless unit, generates a baseband signal to be transmitted, and demodulates and decodes the baseband signal received from the second wireless unit; And a data communication interface configured to exchange data between the first communication processor and the second communication processor.

The first communication processor may control on / off of the second communication processor based on data received from the first wireless standard system based on system information of the second wireless standard system.

The cellular wireless communication device according to the present disclosure can communicate smoothly in 4G and 5G, and at the same time, a smooth communication can be achieved by providing an interworking method between a modem chip having a different hardware configuration and a modem chip and a processor. have.

1 is a functional internal block diagram of a wireless communication device to which the present disclosure is applied.

2A to 2C are diagrams illustrating a mounting form of each module in a wireless communication device supporting 5G and 4G according to the present disclosure.

3A-3C are diagrams illustrating a protocol stack of a control plane in a cellular network to which the present disclosure is applied.

4A to 4F are connection diagrams for transmitting / receiving data between 4G modems and 5G modems in various ways according to the present disclosure.

5A to 5B are diagrams illustrating a connection configuration of modules mounted in a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

6A to 6B are hierarchical diagrams for processing signals of a 4G modem and a 5G modem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a case where a wireless communication device moves to an area of a 4G network and a 5G network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

8A is a flowchart illustrating an internal control of a wireless communication device when the 5G modem is powered on in the wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

8B is a more detailed signal flow diagram of a wireless communication device when entering a 5G network in a 4G network according to the present disclosure.

8C is a signal flow diagram inside a wireless communication device when separated from a 5G network in accordance with the present disclosure.

8D is a signal flow diagram inside a wireless communication device when a 4G modem transitions to an RRC idle state in accordance with the present disclosure.

8E is a signal flow diagram inside a wireless communication device when a cell of a 4G modem network is changed in accordance with the present disclosure.

8F is a signal flow diagram inside a wireless communication device when the wireless communication device is disconnected from the 4G network according to the present disclosure.

8G is a signal flow diagram inside a wireless communication device when connected to both a 4G network and a 5G network in the wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

9A is an exemplary diagram of a message transmitted from a 4G modem to a 5G modem of a wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

9B is an exemplary diagram of a message transmitted from a 4G modem to a 5G modem of a wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this case, it should be noted that like elements are denoted by like reference numerals as much as possible. In addition, it is to be noted that the accompanying drawings of the present disclosure are provided to assist in understanding the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited to the forms or arrangements illustrated in the drawings of the present disclosure. In addition, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may blur the gist of the present disclosure will be omitted. In the following description, only parts necessary for understanding the operation according to various embodiments of the present disclosure are described, and it should be noted that descriptions of other parts will be omitted so as not to distract from the gist of the present disclosure.

1 is a functional internal block diagram of a wireless communication device to which the present disclosure is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, a wireless communication apparatus may include a first antenna, a first wireless processor 110, a first modem 120, an application processor 101, a memory 103, a display 105, and a user interface 107. The wireless communication device may further include a second antenna, a second wireless processor 210 and a second modem 220.

In the following description, the first antenna, the first wireless processing unit 110, and the first modem 120 process wireless signals of previous generations, including first generation, second generation, third generation, and fourth generation, including fourth generation or fourth generation. It may be a configuration for. The first modem 120 may also process some frequency bands of the fifth generation. For example, it may be configured to receive and process a signal of a frequency band that can be processed by the first modem 120 among frequency bands used in a fifth generation system.

In addition, the second antenna, the second wireless processor 210 and the second modem 220 may be configured to process the fifth generation wireless signal. In this case, as described above, when the first modem 120 is configured to process some of the fifth generation frequency bands, the second modem 220 may process signals in a band that cannot be processed by the first modem, for example, a 28 GHz band. Regardless of the configuration of the 1 modem 120, it may be configured to process the entire fifth generation frequency band. Hereinafter, it will be described on the assumption that the first modem 120 processes a previous wireless signal including the fourth generation. In addition, it is assumed that the second modem 220 processes the fifth generation wireless signal. However, as described above, the first modem 120 may be configured to process some frequency bands of the fifth generation. Also, the first modem 120 and the second modem 220 may be included in one communication processor, and the first modem 120 and the second modem 220 may be implemented in one communication processor. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the description will be made using the expression modem instead of the communication processor.

According to an embodiment, the first wireless processor 110 performs band-up conversion on the cellular signal, including the fourth generation, and transmits it through the first antenna or converts a signal received from the first antenna into a baseband signal, thereby transmitting the first modem 120. Can be provided as In the following description, for convenience of description, it will be assumed that the cellular method before the fourth generation including the fourth generation is assumed to be the fourth generation wireless communication method. The first modem 120 encodes and modulates data to be transmitted according to a fourth generation cellular communication scheme and provides the first wireless processor 110 to demodulate and decode a baseband signal received from the first wireless processor 110.

Meanwhile, as an example, the second wireless processor 210 may band-up convert a fifth generation cellular signal and transmit it through a second antenna or convert a signal received from the second antenna into a baseband signal and provide it to the second modem 220. Can be. The second modem 220 encodes and modulates data to be transmitted according to a fifth generation cellular communication scheme, and provides the second wireless processor 210 to demodulate and decode a baseband signal received from the second wireless processor 210.

The application processor (AP) 101 may perform control for cellular communication, and further include a configuration for controlling or interworking for interworking of the first modem 120 and the second modem 220 according to the present disclosure. Can be. In addition, the configuration or control operation for the control or interworking performed in the application processor 101 will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The memory 103 may store various data and / or user data for controlling the wireless communication device, and may be configured with a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory, or a volatile memory and a nonvolatile memory, and may be mounted inside or inside the memory 103. The memory may be implemented in various forms, such as a mounted memory and an external memory connected through a predetermined interface (not shown). In the present disclosure, there is no restriction on the shape and characteristics of the memory 103.

The display unit 105 may be implemented in various forms to provide various types of information of the wireless communication device to the user. For example, the display unit 105 of the wireless communication device according to the present disclosure may have any form, such as a simple LED lamp, a variety of LED panel forms, an LCD panel form, a hologram, a flexible display, etc., which may provide a graphic user interface to a user. .

The user interface 107 is a device for providing a user's input to a wireless communication device, and may be various types of input devices such as a user's touch, a gesture, a gesture using a specific tool such as a pen, and a voice input. In the present disclosure, there is no specific limitation in the input method of the user interface 107 or the implementation form of the input device, and any form may be implemented.

In addition, although not shown in the example of FIG. 1, the wireless communication device may include various sensors. As an example of a wireless communication device, assuming a smart phone, the smart phone may include various types of sensors such as a proximity sensor, a position sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, an illuminance sensor, and a biometric sensor. Such sensors may have a configuration for delivering sensed information to modems or an application processor. This form will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 illustrates a general configuration of a wireless communication device, and may further include various configurations other than those illustrated in FIG. 1, and may include a user interface 107 or a display unit 105 or a user interface according to characteristics of the wireless communication device. Note that the present invention can be implemented without the 107 and the display 105.

Meanwhile, in the present disclosure, due to the use of millimeter wave (mmWave) for 5G cellular communication, a wireless communication device performing 4G cellular communication and 5G cellular communication together has a form in which different antennas, wireless processing units, and distinct modems are provided. Illustrated. The wireless communication device having such a configuration has a significant limitation in the mounting of each module due to the characteristics of mmWave when each module is actually implemented as one electronic device.

2A to 2C are diagrams illustrating a mounting form of each module in a wireless communication device supporting 5G and 4G according to the present disclosure.

First, referring to FIG. 2A, a wireless communication device includes a first antenna and a second antenna, and illustrates a first wireless processor 110, a first modem 120, a second wireless processor 210, and a second modem 220. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, since the second wireless processor 210 that processes the signal of the 5G cellular communication system uses mmWave, the distance between the second wireless processor 210 and the second antenna is limited. When the mmWave is used, when the distance between the antenna and the wireless processing unit is far from each other, transmission path loss is very large, and thus the strength of the signal transmitted to the antenna may be reduced. Here, the distance between the antenna and the wireless processor is only an example value, and is not limited to the above value. For example, the distance between the antenna and the radio processor may vary to some extent depending on the characteristics of the frequency and the radio processor.

Therefore, in FIG. 2A, the second wireless processor 201 is preferably disposed in close proximity to the second antenna. Accordingly, other modules, for example, the first wireless processor 110, the first modem 120, and the second modem 220 may be disposed inside the wireless communication device in consideration of the arrangement with other modules after the second wireless processor 210 is disposed. Can be.

The form of the block configuration illustrated in FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a form in which the wireless communication device directly converts to the mmWave frequency band. In other words, the baseband signal is directly converted to the 5G frequency band without converting to an intermediate frequency (IF) band. If a superheterodyne method is used, it may be configured as shown in FIG. 2B. In addition, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 230 may be a cable type for connecting the second wireless processor 210 and the second modem 220. This is a configuration to prevent signal loss because the radio frequency band of the 5G network is a very high band.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the second wireless processing unit a 211 and the second wireless processing unit b 212 are divided in FIG. 2B to correspond to the second wireless processing unit 210 of FIG. 2A. Other configurations may have the same configuration as that of FIG. 2A. In FIG. 2B, since the superheterodyne scheme is used, the baseband signal output from the second modem 220 is band-converted from the second wireless processor b 212 to an intermediate frequency (IF), and the second wireless processor a 211 uses a 5G band. Two stages of processing are performed, which are converted into signals. The signal received from the second antenna is band-down converted to an intermediate frequency IF by the second wireless processor a 211, and is band-down-converted into a baseband signal by the second wireless processor b 212 to be provided to the second modem 220. In this case, the cable 230 may be used to connect the second wireless processor a 211 to the second wireless processor b 212 to prevent signal loss when the frequency band of the IF is high. For example, the frequency band of the IF may be 10 GHz or more. In addition, when the bandwidth is sufficiently lowered in the second wireless processor b 212, the connection to the second modem 220 may have a general form. Therefore, the configuration of FIG. 2A and the configuration of FIG. 2B only result in a difference between the direct conversion method not using the intermediate frequency and the superheterodyne method using the intermediate frequency. In some cases, the second modem may be configured to perform the conversion from the second modem to the intermediate frequency.

FIG. 2C illustrates a case where the second modem and the second wireless processing unit b are configured of one module 221. In this case, the second wireless processing unit a 211 may be disposed within a predetermined interval with the second antenna as illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B. In addition, a connection between the second modem 221 including the second wireless processor a 211 and the second wireless processor b may be connected by a cable.

As such, when the distance between the antenna of the 5G band and the wireless processing unit is to be disposed within a predetermined distance in the wireless communication device, it may not be a problem if the size of the wireless communication device is very large. In general, however, wireless communication devices using 4G cellular communication and 5G cellular communication are generally configured in a portable or wearable form. Accordingly, since the size of the wireless communication device is limited in the portable or worn wireless communication device, the modules having the shape of FIGS. 2A to 2C or the modules illustrated in FIGS. 2A to 2C may be stacked in whole or in part in three dimensions. It may take an overlapped form. That is, in FIGS. 2A to 2C, only shapes that are simply arranged in a planar manner are illustrated. However, when each module is three-dimensionally overlapped to be disposed, a specific module may be overlapped and disposed on top of another module.

As described above, it is possible to first define what interworking should occur between 5G and 4G in a two-chip environment in which a modem hardware is separated in a wireless communication device. In the cellular system, when using 5G band, that is, mmWave, communication is performed in the high frequency band, which has a strong straightness and poor diffraction characteristics. Therefore, it is preferable to perform beamforming in order to communicate with a specific wireless communication device. Since the frequency band of 5G systems is a very high frequency band, there is a risk that the link is likely to be broken if an obstacle or a wireless communication device moves. Therefore, in the control plane where it is most important to secure a reliable communication channel, using a low band 4G may be easier to secure a reliable communication channel.

3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating a protocol stack of a control plane in a cellular network to which the present disclosure is applied.

First, referring to FIG. 3A, interworking in the control plane will be described. In terms of the control plane, it may be divided into a 4G node 310 and a 5G node 320. The 4G node 310 and the 5G node 320 may be applied to the modem of the corresponding system, respectively. First, the 4G node 310 includes an RRC layer 311, a PDCP layer 312, an RLC layer 313, and a MAC layer for processing control signals of the 4G node, and a PDCP layer 315 for processing control signals received from the 5G node at the 4G node. RLC layer 316. MAC layer 314 may process both signals from 4G nodes and signals from 5G nodes. The protocol stack of such a control plane may be configured in the same manner in a wireless communication device as well as a counterpart, for example, a base station, which communicates with the wireless communication device.

The control plane is constructed as shown in FIG. 3A because the signal in the 5G network has a straightness as described above, and there is a high risk of disconnection of an obstacle or a link of the mobile terminal due to poor refractive and diffraction characteristics. Therefore, 4G Data Radio Bearer (DRB) or Signaling Radio Bearer (Signalling) of time-insensitive control messages among 5G control planes in the dual connectivity structure of 5G and 4G. Radio Bearer (SRB) is used to transmit.

In FIG. 3a, a 5G RRC processing unit of a 5G node 320 communicating with a 5G network receives a DRB and further provides a form of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the 4G node 310. It illustrates only the case where the SRB is received through the RRC signaling. In FIG. 3A, for convenience of understanding, the control plane is illustrated as an example for illustrating various forms, and the present disclosure is not limited to the illustrated FIG. 3A.

As described above, in the dual connectivity structure of 4G network and 5G network, interworking requires that the 5G RRC control plane operates according to the 4G RRC state or the radio (RF) state, and the potential required by the 5G control plane. Hardware and software structures must be provided to satisfy the requirements.

As such, when the dual connectivity structure of the 4G network and the 5G network increases, the constitutive complexity of the wireless communication device increases, but it can only take advantage of the radio access technology (RAT) of the 4G network and the 5G network. For example, high throughput, which is an advantage of 5G networks, may be provided, and wide coverage and 4G, which are advantages of 4G, may be secured.

3B is a diagram illustrating a case of using a signaling radio bearer (SRB) in a protocol stack of a control plane in a cellular network to which the present disclosure is applied.

In contrast to FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B is a form that can be divided into a 4G node 310 and a 5G node 320 in terms of a control plane, and all components thereof may have the same form. Accordingly, as described above, the 4G node 310 may first include an RRC layer 311, a PDCP layer 312, an RLC layer 313, and a MAC layer for processing control signals of the 4G node. In addition, the control signal received from the 5G node 320 may include a PDCP layer 315, RLC layer 316 for processing in the 4G node. MAC layer 314 may process both signals from 4G nodes and signals from 5G nodes.

In contrast to FIG. 3A, in FIG. 3B, the 5G RRC message is not transmitted to the PDCP DRB of the 4G node 310, but is transmitted to the RRC 311 of the 4G node 310 as shown by reference numeral 330, and the 4G RRC uplink information (UL Information Transfer, When 5G RRC is transmitted), 5G RRC message can be transmitted through 4G SRB through DL Information Transfer (DLG 5RC RRC) message. Accordingly, the 5G RRC message may be processed as if it is a message generated by a NAS layer, which is a higher layer of 4G RRC. This configuration allows 5G RRC to be delivered over 4G SRB without modifying 4G RRC.

3C is a diagram illustrating a case where a control message is transmitted between MAC layers in a protocol stack of a control plane in a cellular network to which the present disclosure is applied.

The configuration of the 4G node 310 may have the same form as in FIG. 3A or 3B described above. Also, although not illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the 5G node 320 may further include an RLC layer 322 and a MAC layer 323 therein. With this configuration, 5G control messages received from RRC layer 321 of 5G node 320 are forwarded to RRC layer 322 and MAC layer 323 of 5G node 320, and MAC layer 323 of 5G node 320 to MAC layer 314 of 4G node 310. May be sent. In this case, the MAC layer 314 of the 4G node 310 may selectively apply the RRC message received from the 4G network and the RRC message received from the 5G network using the received path or history or network information or preset identifier information.

On the other hand, in the dual connectivity structure of the 4G network and 5G network, the user plane may require additional interworking functions such as splitting / switching / aggregation of user data unlike the control plane.

As described above, in order to have a dual connection structure of a 4G network and a 5G network, the 4G modem and the 5G modem must have a form capable of transmitting and receiving data between them. Next, a configuration for transmitting and receiving data between 4G modems and 5G modems in order to support dual connectivity of 4G and 5G networks will be described below.

4A to 4F are connection diagrams for transmitting / receiving data between 4G modems and 5G modems in various ways according to the present disclosure.

In the configuration of FIGS. 4A to 4F, the 5G modem uses the reference numerals illustrated in FIG. 2A or 2B described above. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the same applies to the case having the configuration of reference numeral 221 illustrated in FIG. 2C. In the following description, for convenience of description, reference numerals of 5G modems will be described using 220. Therefore, the 5G modem can be equally applied to the case having the configuration of FIG. 2C as well as the configuration of FIG. 2A or 2B. 4A to 4F are connection configurations for transmitting and receiving data for interworking between the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220. Therefore, it should be noted that in FIG. 4A to FIG. 4F, the connection configuration for transmitting the user data between the modems 120 and 220 between the application processors 101 is omitted. In addition, the configuration of FIGS. 4A to 4F will be described on the assumption that the wireless communication device is mounted on a smart phone. However, the present invention may be similarly or identically applied to a customer premises equipment in addition to a smart phone, and the application processor 101 may be collectively referred to as a controller, or may be implemented in one form with a 4G modem. In the present disclosure, a case in which the application processor 101 and the modems are configured in independent forms will be described.

Referring to FIG. 4A, an application processor mounted on an actual electronic device or a wireless communication device may have a universal port therein. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, a general-purpose port included in the application processor 101 may be configured in a bypass form, and the 5G modem 220 and the 4G modem 120 may be connected to each other.

In the present disclosure, when the 4G / 5G modem is mounted in a wireless communication device in a two-chip form, interworking between 4G / 5G modems is provided under a dual connection structure, and the 4G / 5G modems connect a low-speed direct interface, and For the interface, the application processor 101 and the 4G modem 120 and the application processor 101 and the 5G modem 220 may provide a high speed interface. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, a general-purpose port included in the application processor 101 is configured in a bypass form, and a low-speed interface between 4G / 5G modems is performed by connecting a 5G modem 220 and a 4G modem 120. Can be provided. In addition, in FIG. 4A, a configuration for providing a high speed interface with each of the 5G modem 220 and the 4G modem 120 described above is omitted, and a configuration in which the application processor 101 is connected to other devices is illustrated for convenience of description. Did not do it.

4B illustrates another embodiment of the present disclosure, which may use a separate switch 410 independent of the application processor 101. As illustrated in FIG. 4B, the application processor 101 does not have a connection configuration for communication of the 5G modem 220 and the 4G modem 120. In this case, the application processor 101 does not have a connection configuration with the 5G modem 220 and the 4G modem 120, and does not have a connection configuration for transmitting and receiving data or signals for inter-modem interworking. That is, as described above, the application processor 101 may have a high speed interface with each of the 5G modem 220 and the 4G modem 120 or at least the 4G modem 120 to transmit / receive user data.

In the case of FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, when the application processor 101 configures and uses a general-purpose port in the bypass form, the data delay may be 100 ms or more. Therefore, since a significant delay occurs in the case of Figure 4a, a method for compensating for the delay may be necessary separately. Therefore, in the case of FIG. 4A, even when the general-purpose port included in the application processor 101 is configured in a bypass form, the method can be adopted in the case of a processor that can satisfy a minimum time for interworking.

On the other hand, in the case of Figure 4b is configured to transmit the data required for interworking between the 4G modem 120 and 5G modem 220 through a separate switch, for example, a direct universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter (UART) interface Can be Accordingly, since a separate switch 410 is used without using the application processor 101 and a switch according to a desired speed can be employed, a method for delay compensation is not necessary in FIG. 4B.

4C to 4F are connection diagrams for interworking between a 4G modem and a 5G modem in consideration of connection with a sensor hub included in a general wireless communication device.

Generally, a wireless communication device can be equipped with various sensors. For example, the sensor may include various types of sensors such as a geomagnetic sensor, a touch sensor, a fingerprint sensor, and an illuminance sensor.

The sensor hub 420 of FIG. 4C may receive and collect signals detected from the various sensors described above. In addition, the sensor hub 420 may provide the received and aggregated signals to the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220, respectively. This is because there may be a case in which a signal received from the sensor hub 420 is required to wake up the 4G modem 120 or the 5G modem 220 or both to perform communication. Thus, the 4G modem 120 or 5G modem 220 may be configured to receive data from sensor hub 420, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 4C. In addition, according to the present disclosure can be configured in the form of a direct connection for interworking between the 4G modem 120 and 5G modem 220.

FIG. 4D is a form further including a switch 410 when compared with FIG. 4C. In the case of FIG. 4D, the same information may be transmitted from the sensor hub 420 to the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220, respectively. Thus, the switch 410 may be configured to distribute the same data. In this case, the number of ports to be connected to the sensor hub 420 may be insufficient. For example, if only 4G modem 120 has a port for connection, the sensor hub 420 may not have a port for connection with 5G modem 220. In this case, the 5G modem 220 and the 4G modem 120 may further include a switch configuration for transmitting data simultaneously or only at least one modem as needed.

4E is a connection diagram for interworking with 5G modem 220 when no additional port exists in the existing 4G modem 120.

The configuration of FIG. 4E may be a combination of the configuration of FIG. 4A and the configuration of FIG. 4C. In other words, to connect the 5G modem 220 and the 4G modem 120, the general-purpose port included in the application processor 101 is configured in a bypass form, and a low-speed interface between the 4G / 5G modems is provided. In addition, the sensor hub 420 receives and collects signals detected from the various sensors exemplified above, and individually provides the received and collected signals to the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220, respectively.

As described above, the configuration of FIG. 4E may be adopted when the general-purpose port included in the application processor 101 is a processor in which a transmission delay in a bypass form satisfies a minimum time for interworking. . Therefore, the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220 may provide a low-speed interface between modems by connecting a general-purpose port included in the application processor 101 in a bypass form. In addition, when the sensor hub 420 is connected to the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220, respectively, the sensor hub 420 may have sufficient ports.

The configuration of FIG. 4F may be a case where the port of the sensor hub 420 is insufficient as compared with the case of FIG. 4E. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4D, the sensor hub 420 may be configured to transmit the same information to the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220 through the switch 410, respectively.

The configuration of FIGS. 4A to 4F described above may be embodiments when the 5G modem 220 and the antenna are additionally operated while minimizing the change of the modules of the existing 4G system.

5A to 5B are diagrams illustrating a connection configuration of modules mounted in a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

First, referring to FIG. 5A, an application processor 101, a sensor hub 420, a 4G modem 120, a 5G modem 220, a switch 520, an interface switch 510, and an interface connector 530 may be included. This type of configuration assumes a case where the wireless communication device is a smart phone. The interface connector 530 may be a connector for transmitting data, signals, or the like from an external device or other devices included in the smart phone to the application processor 101. In addition, the interface switch 510 may be a switch included in the power management module. In addition, according to the present disclosure may further include a switch capable of connecting between the interface switch 510 and 5G modem 220 and 4G modem 120. Accordingly, the switch 520 may connect between the 5G modem 220 and the 4G modem 120, or may connect the 5G modem 120 and the interface switch 510.

The interface switch 510 may switch to be connected between the interface connector 530 and the application processor 101 and the switch 520. That is, the interface switch 510 may be switched to be connected to the interface connector 530 and the UART port or the USB port of the application processor 101 or may be switched to be connected to the switch 520 and the application processor 101.

In addition, in the disclosure of FIG. 5A, only the connection between the sensor hub 420 and the 4G modem 120 and the connection between the sensor hub 420 and the application processor 101 are illustrated, but the sensor hub 420 is connected to the 5G modem 220 as shown in FIGS. 4C to 4F. You can have more.

Through the above configuration, the UART port of the 4G modem 120 and the UART port switch 520 of the 5G modem 220 can be connected to transmit and receive messages, signals, data, and information to be transmitted. For example, 4G modem and 5G communication control data can be transmitted / received. In addition, the UART port of the 4G modem 120 or 5G modem 220 is connected to the connector interface through the switch 520 interface switch 510 to transmit / receive messages, signals, data, and information to be transmitted to and from an external device. For example, during the terminal production process, a signal for controlling the terminal may be received from an external device, or a response to the received signal may be transmitted to the external device.

5B illustrates that the 5G modem 220 and the 4G modem 120 are directly connected to the interface switch 510 without the switch 520. Therefore, the interface switch 510 may switch to connect the 5G modem 220 and the application processor 101. The interface switch 510 can also switch to connect the 4G modem 120 and the application processor 101. In addition, the interface connector 530 and the application processor 101 can be switched to connect. The interface switch 510 may provide a path for transmitting / receiving messages, signals, data, information, and the like to be transmitted to each other through such switching.

In addition, although the connection of the sensor hub 420 and the 4G modem 120 and the connection of the sensor hub 420 and the application processor 101 are only illustrated in the disclosure of FIG. 5B, the sensor hub 420 is connected to the 5G modem 220 as shown in FIGS. 4C to 4F. You can have more.

The switch of FIGS. 4A to 4F or the switch 520 and the interface switch 510 described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B may be collectively referred to as a data communication interface. Hereinafter, the drawings will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Let's do it. However, this is merely for convenience of description and may be collectively referred to as a data communication interface for transmitting data between each modem or between a modem and an application interface or between a modem and a sensor hub.

6A to 6B are hierarchical diagrams for processing signals of a 4G modem and a 5G modem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

First, referring to FIG. 6A, a 5G modem 220, a 4G modem 120, and a higher layer 620 may be included. The 4G modem 120 may include a protocol stack of the layer described above with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3C. The 5G modem 220 may also include a protocol stack of the same or similar form as the 4G modem. However, the 5G modem 220 in the protocol stack of the 4G modem of FIGS. 3A to 3C does not have a configuration for receiving and processing a control message from the 4G modem.

As described above, 4G DRB / SRB can be used for a reliable 5G control plane. In addition, data of the actual user plane is transmitted to the 5G modem control module 611 in the case of user data processed by the 5G modem 220. Accordingly, the data processed by the 5G modem 220 is transmitted from the 5G-PDCP DRB (not shown) of the protocol stacks in the 5G modem 220 to the 5G modem control module 611.

In the configuration of FIG. 5 according to the present disclosure, a process for authenticating the wireless communication device is performed only once using the 4G modem 120, and the 5G modem 220 may be reused using the information authenticated by the 4G modem 120.

It can also be connected via the UART interface between the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220. When connected to the UART interface between the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220, 5G RRC messages may be exchanged. That is, the 5G RRC can be distinguished from the LTE-PDCP DRB / LTE-PDCP SRB of the 4G modem 120 protocol stack and transmitted to the 5G modem 220 through the UART interface. In contrast, the RRC of the 5G modem 220 can be transmitted to the LTE-PDCP DRB / LTE-PDCP SRB of the 4G modem 120 through the UART interface. In addition, 4G RRC State information needs to be transmitted from the 4G modem 120 to the 5G modem 220. This is because the 5G RRC message is transmitted through the 4G DRB / SRB, so it is necessary to check whether the 4G RRC state is a connected state or idle state capable of processing the 5G RRC message. In addition, 5G / 4G DRX Info may be transmitted using a UART interface between the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220, and 5G / 4G cell search and measurement information may be transmitted. In addition, a 5G AS Security & Integrity Key can be transmitted using the UART interface between the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220. For example, whenever the 4G modem KeNB value is set or changed, the 4G modem 120 may transmit to the 5G modem 220 using the UART interface. Therefore, the 5G modem 220 may generate a 5G Security & Integrity Key using the value received from the 4G modem 120. In another embodiment, the UART interface may be replaced with an interface for connecting between different modems. Alternative interfaces include asynchronous serial interfaces, synchronous serial interfaces, I2C, SPI, USB, Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe), or Inter-chip Wireless Communication. May include technology

As such, the reason for sharing data between the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220 will be more clearly understood through the following drawings.

In addition, the 5G modem control module 611 may be configured as a single module, may be composed of a plurality of modules, or in the case of a plurality of modules may be configured in a protocol stack format. When the 5G modem control module 611 is configured in the form of a protocol stack, for example, the 5G modem control module 611 may include an IPC input / output device module for communicating with a higher layer 620, a control module for controlling a 5G modem 220, a module for managing a 5G link, and the like. .

In addition, the 4G modem control module 612 may be configured as a single module, may be composed of a plurality of modules, or may be configured in a protocol stack format when composed of a plurality of modules. When the 4G modem control module 612 is configured in the form of a protocol stack, for example, the 4G modem control module 612 may include an IPC input / output device module for communicating with the upper layer 620, a control module for controlling the 4G modem 120, a module for managing the 4G link, and the like. .

The upper layer 620 collectively refers to all layers located above the communication device, combining data received from the 4G modem 120 and / or data received from the 5G modem 220, and splitting the data to be transmitted into 4G modem 120 or 5G modem 220. And can be output separately.

Referring to FIG. 6B in comparison with FIG. 6A, there is no connection between the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220. It further includes a data control module 613. The data control module 613 may divide data to be transmitted to the 4G modem 120 or / and 5G modem 220 performed in the upper layer 620, and provide the data to the corresponding 5G modem control module 611 or / and 4G modem control module 612. Data received from the modem control module 611 and / or the 4G modem control module 612 may be combined and provided to the upper layer 620.

In addition, the structure of FIG. 6B is a structure diagram capable of transparently switching in a TCP / IP or application stage. In other words, the IP address is shared between the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220. This allows for a transparent configuration in the application as well as in the IP layer.

Data Control Module 613, located in kernel 610, is lossless and data-free when data is switched or split on two different modems, 4G Modem 120 and 5G Modem 220. Can support Sequence Switching

Based on the above description, a wireless communication device having a dual connectivity structure of 4G and 5G networks and cases where interworking is required in a network for supporting the same will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a case where a wireless communication device moves to an area of a 4G network and a 5G network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7, base stations 711, 712, 713 of a 4G network have respective communication areas 711a, 712a, 713a. 5G base stations 721, 722, 723, 724, and 725 have their own communication areas 721a, 722a, 723a, 724a and 725a, respectively. The 4G base stations 711, 712, 713 have a wider base station area because the refraction and diffraction of the radio signal is better when compared to the 5G base stations 721, 722, 723, 724, 725. Therefore, the communication areas 711a, 712a, 713a of the 4G base stations 711, 712, 713 have a wider range than the communication areas 721a, 722a, 723a, 724a, 725a of the 5G base stations 721, 722, 723, 724, 725.

At this time, as an example, it is assumed that the wireless communication device 701 capable of communicating with both 4G and 5G networks moves from a location of the first base station 711 to a location 731-> 732-> 733-> 734. Let's look at it.

First, when the wireless communication device 701 is located within the communication area of the first base station 711, the wireless communication device 701 detects only the 4G network and thus communicates with the 4G network. In this case, when the wireless communication device 701 moves with reference numeral 731, the wireless communication device 701 may be located in the handover area of the first base station 711 and the second base station 712. In this case, the wireless communication device 701 must handover from the first base station 711 to the second base station 712. In this case, since the first base station 711 and the second base station 712 are both base stations of the 4G network, the wireless communication device 701 may perform communication using only the 4G modem.

Thereafter, a case where the wireless communication device 701 moves as indicated by the reference numeral 732 may occur. In this case, the wireless communication device 701 may communicate with the second base station 712 or may communicate with the fourth base station 721 which is a base station of the 5G network. Therefore, if the wireless communication device 701 does not know at what point the 5G modem is turned on and off, it must keep the 5G on. If the 5G modem is kept on, the wireless communication device 701 consumes unnecessary power when it is located within the area of the first base station 711 described above.

To prevent this, when the wireless communication device 701 keeps the 5G modem turned off, it is necessary to determine when to turn on the 5G modem. In addition, as shown by reference numeral 733, when moving from the area of the 5G base station to the 4G base station and moving back to the area of the 5G base station, it may be a very important factor to determine the on / off timing of the 5G modem. That is, the first problem is that since the wireless communication device 701 implements a 4G modem and a 5G modem, respectively, it should be defined at what time the 5G modem is turned on and at what time the 5G modem is turned off.

Next, when the wireless communication device 701 moves with reference numeral 732 on the side of the base station, it is determined whether to use the 4G network or the 5G network. If the 5G network is to be used, as described above, the 5G network should be selected using the 4G DRB / SRB to ensure reliability.

Therefore, secondly, when to create a 4G DRB / SRB for 5G RRC and a transmission method from a 4G modem to a 5G modem should be determined.

Third, in the case of 5G data and 4G data, the timing of when to switch the data path should also be determined.

Fourth, when 4G handover occurs, for example, when moving with reference numeral 733, the 5G DRB of 5G must decide what to do.

Fifth, because 4G links are used for reliability, the 5G DRB must decide what to do if 4G Radio Link Failure (RLF) occurs.

Sixth, the 5G DRB should decide what to do if an RLF occurs in a 4G network or a failure occurs when a channel is re-establishmented.

Seventh, the 5G DRB should decide what to do when the 4G inactivity timer expires. This problem is also necessary because 5G communication is performed based on 4G network.

In addition, the seven problems to be addressed above may be more necessary because the 4G and 5G modems are implemented as separate chips. Therefore, a description will be given below for a solution to the seven problems illustrated above.

8A is a flowchart illustrating an internal control of a wireless communication device when the 5G modem is powered on in the wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

The application processor 101 has a Radio Interface Layer (RIL) daemon in operation 800, and in operation 802, the 4G modem 120 is in a power on state, but only in a radio off state. Suppose you are in a state. As such, operations 800 and 802 are not sequential operations over time, but merely to describe the current state. For example, the wireless communication device may be powered on for the first time, or may be turned off only in the radio of the cellular network due to flight mode, user's needs, or network conditions. Accordingly, the application processor 101 may already be aware that the radio of the 4G modem 120 is off.

The application processor 101 may transmit a radio on command to the 4G modem 120 in operation 804. The 4G modem 120 may then attempt to access the 4G network by turning on the modem's radio in operation 806. In this case, or after accessing the 4G network, the 4G modem 120 may transmit a radio status notification message to the application processor 101 in operation 808. When the application processor 101 receives the radio status notification message in operation 808, the application processor 101 may transmit a get radio power command in operation 810.

The 4G modem 120 may acquire radio power of the 4G network in response to a get radio power command, generate the obtained radio power in response, and then transfer the radio power generated in operation 812 to the application processor 101. .

Thereafter, the 4G modem 120 may receive the PLMN ID list from the base station connected from the 4G network. In step 814, the 4G modem 120 may check whether the 5G PLMN list is included when receiving the PLMN ID list from the base station connected to the 4G network. For example, the PLMN ID may be configured by MCC and MNC, and a method of distinguishing 4G and 5G may be used by assigning the MNC part differently from 4G.

If the 5G PLMN is included in the PLMN ID list received from the base station connected from the 4G network, the 4G modem 120 transmits a 5G modem on command to the 5G modem 220 in step 816. Accordingly, the 5G modem 220 may turn on the power and the radio based on the radio on command and access the 5G network. In this case, the 5G modem 220 may transmit a radio on status notification message to the 4G modem 120 in operation 818.

As described above, when the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220 are mounted together, the present disclosure is configured to operate in the 4G network to ensure the reliability of the 5G network. Accordingly, when the 4G modem 120 communicating with the 4G network receives the radio on state notification message from the 5G modem 220 in operation 818, the 4G modem 120 may initiate a 5G RRC PDN connection in operation 820.

In addition, since the 4G modem 120 has both the 4G modem and the 5G modem turned on, the 4G modem 120 may generate and transmit a radio status notification message to the application processor 101 in operation 822. In this case, the 4G modem 120 may inform the state notification message transmitted to the application processor in operation 822 that both the 4G modem and the 5G modem are on.

When the application processor 101 receives the radio status notification message in operation 822, the application processor 101 may transmit a command for requesting get radio power to the 4G modem 120 in operation 824. Accordingly, the 4G modem 120 may generate a radio power response message in operation 826 and transmit the generated radio power response message to the application processor 101. In this case, the response message for the radio power transmitted in operation 826 may indicate that both the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220 are in an on state.

As described above, in FIG. 8A, the wireless communication device determines whether to enter the 5G network through the 4G network, and controls the operation of turning on the 5G modem 220 according to the result.

8B is a more detailed signal flow diagram of a wireless communication device when entering a 5G network in a 4G network according to the present disclosure.

First, the 4G modem 120 may detect the PLMN of the 5G network from the PLMN ID list received from the 4G network in operation 814 as described with reference to FIG. 8A. Then, as described above, the 4G modem 120 may transmit and receive information for obtaining a PDN address (for example, an IP address) for use in the 5G network with the application processor 101 in operation 830 to obtain the PDN address for use in the 5G network. 830 may be in various forms, and the present disclosure does not place a special restriction on a procedure for obtaining a PDN address. Therefore, the 4G modem 120 may obtain the address of the PDN to be used by the application processor 101 and the 5G modem 220 in any way.

As such, after acquiring the DPN address from the application processor 101, the 4G modem 120 may transmit the IP address for the RRC for the RRC of the 5G network to the 5G modem 220 in operation 832. When the 5G modem 220 receives the IP address for RRC to be used in the 5G network from the 4G modem 120, the 5G modem 220 may attempt to connect to the 5G network with the RRC address received in operation 834, and transmit a response signal to the 4G modem 120. have.

Thereafter, the 4G modem 120 may notify the 4G DRB state for the 5G RRC in operation 836. An example of such a DRB status notification message may be in the form of FIG. 9A.

9A is an exemplary diagram of a message transmitted from a 4G modem to a 5G modem of a wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9A, a 5G RRC DRB STATE information field 901 and a CAUSE field 902 may be configured. As illustrated in FIG. 9A, the 5G RRC DRB STATE information field 901 may be configured with one bit. When composed of one bit, the value may represent a state as a value of '0' or '1'. For example, if the 5G RRC DRB STATE information field 901 has a value of '0', this means that the RRC DRB is established. If the 5G RRC DRB STATE information field 901 has a value of '1', the RRC DRB is set. It may mean not established. In addition, the definition of the value of the 5G RRC DRB STATE information field 901 may be reversed.

The CAUSE field 902 may describe the following information, for example. First, the 5G RRC PDN Attach information can be described. Second, it may indicate 5G RRC PDN Detach information. Third, 4G Radio Link Failure (RRF) & Re-Establishment Failure information can be indicated as an option if necessary. Fourth, it may indicate inactivity timer expiration information. Fifth, if necessary, User-Initiated 4G Release information may be indicated as an option.

The 4G modem 120 may notify the 4G DRB state for 5G RRC including the information of the type described above in operation 836. That is, the 4G modem 120 indicates that the 5G RRC DRB STATE field 901 is set to '0' to indicate whether the DRB is established, and the RRC PDN Attach process is established in the reason field 902 to inform the cause of the establishment. It can tell you it's the cause.

The 5G modem 220 may then perform a 5G call addition procedure through the 5G PDN in operation 838. That is, the 5G modem 220 may enter the service state by performing the 5G initial call addition or connection operation using the information received from the 4G modem 120. As described above, when the 5G modem 220 is connected to the 5G network in operation 838 and becomes a service state, the 5G modem 220 may provide 5G service to the user through the 5G network in operation 840. That is, the 5G modem 220 may access the 5G network to perform communication.

8C is a signal flow diagram inside a wireless communication device when separated from a 5G network in accordance with the present disclosure.

In the operation of FIG. 8C, a service is provided through the 5G modem 220, and the 4G modem 120 is connected to the 4G network to obtain information necessary for the 5G network. As such, while the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220 are both running, the 4G modem 120 may receive a PLMN ID list from the 4G network at a predetermined time point or periodically or in a specific case or aperiodically from the 4G network. As such, receiving the PLMN ID list may be the same operation as the operation 814 of FIGS. 8A and 8B described above. However, the operation 850 differs from the above-described operations in that both the 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220 communicate with each other, and the 4G modem 120 does not have a PLMN ID of the 5G network in the PLMN ID list received from the 4G network. Can be. As such, when there is no PLMN ID of the 5G network in the PLMN ID list received from the 4G network, the wireless communication device can no longer communicate with the 5G network and should be switched to the 4G network. Therefore, when the 4G modem 120 recognizes that there is no PLMN ID of the 5G network in the PLMN ID list received from the 4G network, the 4G modem 120 informs the application processor 101 that the 5G modem 220 should not communicate with the 5G network in operation 852. That is, the 4G modem 120 performs a detach procedure of the application processor 101 and the 5G RRC PDN in operation 852.

According to this separation procedure, the application processor 101 may recognize that communication with the 5G network is no longer possible, and may set or change the path for data transmission and reception to the 4G modem 120. For example, the application processor 101 may be in a state of performing data communication using only the 5G modem 220. In this case, the application processor 101 needs to change a setting to perform data communication through the 4G modem 120. Application 101 also requires the 4G modem 120 to perform the control necessary for data communication.

When the 4G modem 120 completes the detach procedure of the application processor 101 and the 5G RRC PDN in operation 852, the 4G modem 120 may proceed to operation 854 and transmit a 4G DRB status notification message for 5G RRC to the 5G modem 220. The DRB status notification message for RRC provided in operation 854 may use the message of FIG. 9A described above. For example, the 4G modem 120 may set the 5G RRC DRB STATE information field 901 to a value of '1', that is, RRC DRB is not established in the notification message transmitted in operation 854, and the CAUSE field 902. May be configured to indicate 5G RRC PDN Detach information and transmitted.

Upon receiving the DRB status notification message for RRC provided in operation 854, the 5G modem 220 releases all 5G resources and enters an idle state in operation 856. Therefore, in operation 858, the 5G modem 220 is in a "No Service" state in which user data cannot be serviced.

8D is a signal flow diagram inside a wireless communication device when a 4G modem transitions to an RRC idle state in accordance with the present disclosure.

In the state of FIG. 8D, it is assumed that 5G modem 220 is driven and a service is in progress. As described above, the 5G network is configured to transmit control information using the 4G network in order to provide signal stability and reliability. Therefore, although communication is actually performed in the 5G network, smooth communication can be achieved in the 5G network only when the 4G network remains connected.

In this situation, the 4G modem 120 may transition to the 4G RRC_IDLE state as in operation 860. For example, the 4G modem 120 transitions to the 4G RRC_IDLE state as in operation 860. For example, the 4G modem 120 may have a radio link failure (RLF) in a 4G RRC state. This can happen when the wireless communication device is located at the edge of the 4G network or where the received signal is very weak. As another example, the 4G modem 120 is defined to transition to the IDLE state when there is no data transmission / reception operation for a preset time. That is, a case where the time set in the inactivity timer expires may occur.

As an example, the inactivity timer expires. As described above, when communication with the 5G network is possible, the actual 4G modem 120 does not transmit or receive data through the 4G network, but detects only control information for the 5G network. Therefore, when the 5G modem 220 communicates through the 5G network, the inactivity timer of the 4G modem 120 may be driven. As such, when the inactivity timer of the 4G modem 120 is driven and the inactivity timer expires, the 4G modem 120 transitions to the RRC_IDLE state.

In this case, since the 5G modem 220 cannot obtain control information from the 4G modem 120, it should be recognized. Accordingly, the 4G modem 120 may notify the RRC_IDLE status of the 4G modem 120 by transmitting a DRB status notification message for the RRC to the 5G modem 220 in operation 862. A case in which the 4G modem 120 transmits a DRB status notification message for RRC to the 5G modem 220 in operation 862 will be described with reference to the configuration of FIG. 9A.

When the 4G modem 120 transitions to the 4G RRC_IDLE state, the RRC DRB STATE information field 901 may be set to a value of '1', that is, the RRC DRB is not established to indicate that the 4G network is not connected. . In addition, the 4G modem 120 may set the CAUSE field 902 to a value indicating a 4G RLF state or a value indicating an inactivity timer expiration according to each case.

When the 5G modem 220 receives the 4G DRB status notification message for the 5G RRC as described above in operation 862, the 5G modem 220 may recognize that the 5G RRC message may no longer be received from the 4G modem 120. The 5G modem 220 may then continue to communicate if it can receive a 5G RRC message from the 5G network. On the other hand, if the 5G modem 220 can receive the 5G RRC message from the 5G network, the service is terminated. That is, data communication cannot be performed.

8E is a signal flow diagram inside a wireless communication device when a cell of a 4G modem network is changed in accordance with the present disclosure.

In the state of FIG. 8E, it is assumed that 5G modem 220 is driven and a service is in progress. As described above, the 5G network is configured to transmit control information using the 4G network in order to provide signal stability and reliability. Therefore, the communication is actually performed in the 5G network, but since the control information of the 5G network is received from the 4G network only by staying connected with the 4G network, smooth communication can be achieved in the 5G network.

As described above, the 4G modem 120 may be connected to a 4G network, and a cell change of the 4G network may occur as in operation 870. Cell change in the 4G network may exist in various forms. For example, when a handover of the 4G network occurs or a reset failure event occurs after the RLF occurs.

When the 4G cell change occurs, such as operation 870, the 4G modem 120 should inform the 5G modem 220 that the cell change of the 4G network has occurred as described above. This is because when the 4G network is changed, the 5G network is also changed. Referring to FIG. 7, the base station of the 5G network exists in the form of a smaller cell in each base station of the 4G network. Since 5G networks use a much higher frequency band than 4G networks, it is difficult to have a larger area than the base station area of 4G networks. So, if the 4G network changes, so does the 5G network. Accordingly, the 5G modem 220 also needs a cell addition operation.

Therefore, when a cell condition occurs, the 4G modem 120 may transmit a 4G cell change notification message to the 5G modem in operation 872. This 4G cell change notification message will be described with reference to FIG. 9B.

9B is an exemplary diagram of a message transmitted from a 4G modem to a 5G modem of a wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

When a 4G cell change occurs, the 4G modem 120 may generate and transmit a message as shown in FIG. 9B. The message illustrated in FIG. 9B has three fields. Firstly, the identifier field (4G Cell ID, PCI or ECI) 911 of the 4G cell may be included, and second, the IsPCeNB field 912 may be included. Finally, it may include a CAUSE field 913.

Since the 4G cell identifier field 911 is already well known, a description thereof is omitted. In addition, the IsPCeNB field 912 may be added as needed, and the PCeNB means 4G NB connected to 5G or recognizing 5G function. When handover is performed to Legacy eNB instead of PCeNB, since 5G DRB generation and 5G RRC message cannot be transmitted to 4G DRB / SRB, in this case, 5G RRC Dedicated PDN is removed. . Finally, the reason field 913 is a field for identifying the reason for the cell change. Therefore, as described above, the reason field 913 may indicate information such as 4G RLF & Re-Establishment Failure in case of handover.

Referring back to FIG. 8E, when the 4G cell change notification message is received from the 4G modem 120 in operation 872, the 5G modem 220 may perform an operation for adding a cell or changing a 5G network.

8F is a signal flow diagram inside a wireless communication device when the wireless communication device is disconnected from the 4G network according to the present disclosure.

As described above, when the 5G network and the 4G network are mixed, the state of the 4G network becomes a very important factor when transmitting the RRC message of the 5G network through the 4G network. Therefore, if the RLF of the 4G modem 120 occurs, and the re-establishment fails later, the 5G modem communicating with the 5G network should also be aware of this. Therefore, FIG. 8F of the present disclosure describes the procedure made in this situation.

If the 4G modem 120 generates an RLF as described above and subsequently fails to re-establishment, the RRC state transitions to the RRC IDLE state, and accordingly, the 4G DRB for 5G RRC is released. This should be informed. Therefore, the 4G modem 120 transmits a DRB state notification message for 5G RRC in operation 880. In this case, the DRB state notification message for 5G RRC may use the message of FIG. 9A as described above. Accordingly, the 5G RRC DRB STATE field 901 may be configured to indicate Not Established, and the reason field 902 may be configured to indicate 4G RLF & Re-Establishment Failure.

Thereafter, the 4G modem 120 may access another PC eNB (5G Capable 4G eNB) in operation 882. Here, the PC eNB refers to an eNB of a 4G network capable of recognizing a 5G network.

At this time, the 5G modem 220 checks the quality of the 5G link, and if the quality of the 5G link is good for communication, the 5G RRC message may be transmitted through the 5G SRB without transmitting the 5G RRC message to the 4G SRB / DRB. have. When the 5G modem 220 directly transmits the SRB, the 5G modem 220 does not perform data path switching with the 4G modem 120. In addition, the generation of 5G SRB may be generated and used together when generating another radio bearer during initial access, or may be generated only when 4G RLF is generated. As another example, when a 4G RLF is connected to another 4G network, that is, a specific cell of 4G, a 5G cell addition process may be newly performed.

On the other hand, when 5G link quality is not good or when 5G RLF occurs, the 5G modem 220 may transmit a data path switching notification message to the 4G modem 120 serving as a host. Accordingly, the 4G modem 120 as well as the 5G modem 220 may suspend all 5G DRBs. In addition, when a 4G FRL is connected to another 4G cell, a 5G cell addition process may be newly performed.

As described above, the 5G modem 220 transmits / receives a control signal through the 5G network when the 5G network is in a good state to transmit / receive the control signal, that is, when the signal quality with the 5G network has a quality higher than or equal to a preset threshold. can do. On the other hand, if the quality has a predetermined threshold or less, the 5G modem 220 may transmit and receive a signal through the 4G network.

After operation 882, the 4G modem 120 may inform the 5G modem 220 that the 4G DRB has been generated and the 5G RRC may be transmitted again as in operation 884. In this case, the DRB State notification message for 5G RRC may use the message of FIG. 9B described above.

In the message of FIG. 9B, the 4G modem 120 includes the identifier of the 4G cell in the identifier field (4G Cell ID, PCI or ECI) 911 of the newly connected 4G cell, sets the IsPCeNB field 912 value to 'True', and finally the reason (CAUSE) Field 913 may be indicated as 4G RLF & Re-Establishment Failure. Thereafter, since the cell change occurs in operation 886, the 4G modem 120 may transmit a cell change notification message to the 5G modem 220. This allows the 5G modem 220 to be able to access the 5G network again.

8G is a signal flow diagram inside a wireless communication device when connected to both a 4G network and a 5G network in the wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 8G in more detail, when the 5G modem does not have a separate control information channel with the AP, and shares a control channel between the 4G modem and the AP, the internal signal flow diagram. Control signals generated in the 5G modem are first transmitted to the 4G modem, and forwarded to the control channel between the 4G and the AP, or changed in format, to be transmitted to the AP.

The 4G modem 120 and the 5G modem 220 illustrate the case where the service state is both in operation 890a and operation 890b. In the wireless communication device according to the present disclosure, the 4G modem 120 first enters a service state, and then the 5G modem 220 enters a service state. The 5G modem 220 is in the service state, and the 5G modem 220 accesses the 5G network, receives the RRCConnectionRrconfiguration message from the base station, successfully receives all the random access channels (RACH), and provides the user service through the 5G DRB. It means a state that can be.

As such, when the 5G modem 220 enters the service state, the 5G modem 220 may generate a network registration notification message in operation 892 and transmit the generated network registration notification message to the 4G modem 120. The network registration notification message transmitted in operation 892 may include Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), and Tracking Area Code (TAC) information. .

When the 4G modem 120 receives the network registration notification message from the 5G modem 220 in operation 892, the 4G modem 120 uses the same information from the 4G network and the information received from the 5G modem 220 as one message in the operation 894. Create The 4G modem 120 may then send a network registration notification message to the application processor 101 in operation 896.

When the application processor 101 receives the Network Registration Notification message, the application processor 101 stores the message and transmits a Get Net Registration message to the 4G modem in operation 898. Accordingly, the 4G modem 120 may generate a network registration response message in operation 899 and transmit the generated network registration response message to the application processor 101.

In addition, the embodiments disclosed in the specification and drawings are merely presented specific examples to easily explain the contents of the present disclosure and to help understanding thereof, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should be construed as including all changes or modifications derived based on the technical spirit of the present disclosure in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein. For example, although various forms are illustrated in FIGS. 8A to 8I, all forms constituting the core with magnetic materials may not be illustrated, and various modifications may be made based on the same contents as those of the present disclosure. It is possible.

The present invention can be used when one electronic device communicates in different frequency bands.

Claims (10)

1. The baseband signal to be transmitted according to the first wireless standard is converted into a signal of the first frequency band and transmitted to the first antenna, and the signal of the first frequency band received from the first antenna is converted into a baseband signal. A first wireless unit for outputting;

   The baseband signal to be transmitted according to the second wireless standard is converted into a signal of the second frequency band and transmitted to the second antenna, and the signal of the second frequency band received from the second antenna is converted into a baseband signal. A second wireless unit for outputting;

   A first communication processor which modulates and encodes data to be transmitted to the first wireless unit, generates a baseband signal to be transmitted, and demodulates and decodes the baseband signal received from the first wireless unit;

   A second communication processor which modulates and encodes data to be transmitted to the second wireless unit, generates a baseband signal to be transmitted, and demodulates and decodes the baseband signal received from the second wireless unit; And

   And a data communication interface configured to exchange data between the first communication processor and the second communication processor.

   And the first communication processor controls on / off of the second communication processor based on data received from the first wireless standard system based on system information of the second wireless standard system.
2. The method of claim 1,

   The second wireless standard when control information for use in the second wireless standard system is included in data received from the first wireless standard system by the first communication processor while the second communication processor is turned on. And control information to be used in a system of the type through a data communication interface to a second communication processor.
3. The control information of claim 2, wherein the control information to be used in the second wireless standard system is:

   Internet Protocol (IP) address to be used in the system of the second wireless standard method, Data Radio Bearer (DRB) of the first wireless standard method for higher signaling of the second wireless standard method, Signaling Radio Bearer , SRB) and at least one of cell change notification information of a first wireless standard scheme.
4. The method of claim 1,

   When the second communication processor transmits the control information of the second wireless standard method, when the communication quality between the second communication processor and the system of the second wireless standard method is greater than or equal to a preset value, the second communication processor is configured to perform the second communication processor. And control to transmit via a wireless unit.
5. The method of claim 1,

   When the second communication processor transmits the control information of the second wireless standard method, when the communication quality between the second communication processor and the system of the second wireless standard method is less than a preset value, the second communication processor may perform the data communication. Transmitting control information of the second wireless standard to the first communication processor through an interface;

   And the first communication processor controls to transmit control information of the second wireless standard through the first wireless unit.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data communication interface,

   Electronic device that is a direct universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter (UART) interface.
7. A method for controlling a wireless communication device having respective wireless communication units according to a plurality of wireless communication standards,

   Receiving a first control signal from a first network by a first communication processor communicating in a first wireless standard manner;

   Controlling, by the first communication processor, to power on the second communication standard-based second communication processor when the first control signal includes system control information according to the second wireless standard;

   If the first communication processor includes control information for use in the second wireless standard system in the data received from the first wireless standard system, the control information to be used in the second wireless standard system; Transferring to a second communication processor via a data communication interface; And

   And connecting, by the second communication processor, to the system of the second wireless standard scheme, to communicate with each other according to a plurality of wireless communication standards.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the control information to be used in the second wireless standard system,

   Internet Protocol (IP) address to be used in the system of the second wireless standard method, Data Radio Bearer (DRB) of the first wireless standard method for higher signaling of the second wireless standard method, Signaling Radio Bearer And SRB) and at least one of cell change notification information of a first wireless standard scheme. 2. A method for controlling a wireless communication device having respective wireless communication units according to a plurality of wireless communication standards.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein

   When the second communication processor transmits the control information of the second wireless standard method, when the communication quality between the second communication processor and the system of the second wireless standard method is greater than or equal to a preset value, the second communication processor is configured to perform the second communication processor. And transmitting the control information of the second wireless standard method to a system of a wireless standard method. The method of controlling a wireless communication device having a respective wireless communication unit according to a plurality of wireless communication standards.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein

    When the second communication processor transmits the control information of the second wireless standard method, when the communication quality between the second communication processor and the system of the second wireless standard method is less than a preset value, the second communication processor is configured to display the second communication processor. Transmitting control information of a wireless standard type to the first communication processor; And

    And transmitting, by the first communication processor, the received control information of the second wireless standard method, the wireless communication device having each wireless communication unit according to a plurality of wireless communication standards.

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